Cooking is not a science but an art; mistakes are okay, messes are fine–the pleasure is in the creating and the sharing of the result.~Lori Pollan

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nutella bars made with oat crisps

Can you name your favorite foodie movie scene?

In Chef Carl Casper makes a fantastic grilled cheese sandwich with what looks like cheddar, gruyere, and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses. It’s one of those simple outstanding genius sandwiches that don’t need a recipe–because any kind of cheese will do. That’s what a truly gifted chef possesses: the ability to create something delicious out of a few ingredients.

Old Chu in Eat Drink Man Woman makes a four-course gourmet school lunch for Shan-Shan, and he carries it to her at school in a stainless steel tiffin or food carrier. As a professional chef, all of Chu’s relationships revolve around food. Cooking is an expression of love without the words.

Viane (Chocolat) tells her daughter Anouk the story of how her grandfather met her grandmother, and how drinking chocolate unlocks secret yearnings. The fact that taste has the power to create memories and access them is a theme in human lore about food.

I love these movies. Eating is a sensual experience that connects the mind to the heart, the brain to the stomach. Eating is so primal, so elemental, because what we eat becomes a part of us, our memories, our bodies. Cooking for me is a way to explore that connection between the preparation of food and eating it.

Hi Joanie, a big smile came on my face when i saw your blog. I’m also hakka chinese jamaican and i came across the lopetban recipe (never really enjoyed the lopet cooking smell though ). However, as my grandparents are no longer around, i was looking for some stuffings to put inside a “shao bao” (excuse my poor chinese). i remember my grandmother making them filled with chicken and mushroom, red bean and a pork mixture with some sort of vegetable. With my young daughter having lots of allergies, i strive to go back to my roots and make at home the shao bao’s that my po-po so lovingly made for me as a young girl. Would you have any references on recipes that you can share? My daughter and I would appreciate any information that can pass on 🙂
Thank you Foodie Joanie and keep blogging, I love it!

Thank you for reading my blog. And It’s so nice to meet another Hakka Chinese Jamaican too! My mother and grandmother always cooked everything from scratch. I remember my mother even squeezing the grated coconut to make her own coconut milk for rice and peas. But making your own coconut milk is so inconvenient these days, for who has the time? And whether or not a family member has allergies, I still think cooking with all natural ingredients and staying away from processed foods is a good thing to strive for. So what kind of recipes are you looking for?

Thanks for liking my recipe for Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs. I hope you try it out sometime and enjoy it. It’s a really chunky and thick sauce because that’s the way we like it. You can use ground meat, too, instead of the meatballs if you prefer but I would precook that before adding to the sauce!

Thank you, Nicky, this is indeed an honor! I hope you don’t think me ungrateful to decline the nomination? I like to blog and I would do it regardless of an award. Thank you again, and I hope you will continue to visit my blog.

I could not find a recipe for Gee Pai Gao either. I remember eating it as a child at Sun Yat Sen Beach in Kingston, though my cousin remembers her Gia Po buying it for her on Barry Street. I did find it in Bangkok, and it tastes just the way I remember it–chewy, slightly sweet, and little nutty. The closest I’ve come to finding anything like it here in the States is mochi, in the refrigerator section of Asian specialty grocery stores.

I am Noa Berger, VizEat’s Community Manager (http://bit.ly/Wf1vx3). We connect locals and travellers who’d like to discover a new culture with hosts who welcome them at their home around a meal.

Using VizEat is very easy and straightforward: hosts post their meal (this could also be an aperitif, brunch, wine & cheese, etc.) select a date & price, choose their guests and then share an authentic moment around a home cooked meal!

I love your blog and so would be delighted to discuss a potential partnership. There are numerous mutually beneficial opportunities that we can present to you.

Would you be available for a 10 minute chat so that I can give you more details about the partnership and what we are proposing?

Thank you for all the nice things you’ve said about my blog and for telling me about Vizeat. I have heard about websites like yours. However, I’m not ready to do it yet. At the moment I’m very busy and cooking and blogging are what I like to do right now. If I change my mind I will let you know.